APRIL FOOL!

IT IS THE DAY SET ASIDE FOR LEGITIMATE PRANKING... making fool-hardy jokes set to knock down the unwary at any point of the day. Fun and games a fine thing in family or other social settings. Slight jokes played at work keep humility flowing among co-workers as long as the joke avoids a sour note. A joke gone wrong can end up in injury or death at the worst... emotional upset that develops into resentment or harassment on another turn. A gathering of relatives over a holiday setting... one home from his military stint, others gathering from parent's or their own household of wife and kids find a line to "spoof" the military guy. Get the party going... ribs sizzling in the back on the grill with brats, burgers and hot dogs. The cooler needs a refill of beer and ale... the Mountain Dew is getting low to. Food sides are set as brought to the table by attendees and family memories send laughter through the air until one harsh recall comes to mind. Games get rolling and outside of cards on the table and volleyball or croquette, "shoot the can off the stooge's head" becomes the joke. Who's the stooge? Pull the "odd man out." The one in town from his time off. The one always known to "love a good joke." The Marine is set aside by the other guys and spun around... a can set on his head and feet away is a bb gun pointed at him... at the can being steadied atop his unsteady gait. Caught by surprise he needs to "stand still and stay low... the shooter is good at this." The jostling behind him as he is figuring his way out of a foreseen tragedy at the hand of the teen holding the gun pointing at his face is ended... the trigger flicks and he's on the floor. The jostling behind the holder of the gun is more eager to get his turn at popping the can ... agitated at the man doing his time, perhaps a little better than the time he'd done in his own military enlistment call. His was a forced issue. A "draft call" back in the day when going out to other nations to keep the family in the household thousands of miles away from the front line. His was mandatory to do what he did not want to do, and this one show-boating was in... volunteering to be military when no one was out there to shoot at him. The draft was nothing but going to be shot at on somebody else's call, nudges his arm "Pull the trigger man!" The Emergency Vehicle makes it in time to haul the marine off on the holiday... extra payday for the men push-pulling the body cart and throwing on the siren to clear the road between this family home and the hospital. The pellet lodged in his neck when he turned to check the "who stuck me" behind him before the can fell off his head when the crowd budged and stopped bracing him up for the shoot down because he was "a marine;" something strong enough to withstand being shot and shot at. He was home on leave at his cousin's house visiting them and their kids... they were always doing something and had a larger crowd than his mama's own home. His siblings were scattered away at basic training, one off stationed in Germany... one on a battleship headed for Hawaii, and one stationed in Indianapolis... no time off for leave. He had to be back from this weekend leave on time to keep his good record and continue his privileged training for special forces... he was "the one least likely to."

Pranks can and do go bad.